Gluten Free Christmas Cake

Ingredients

1 kg mixed dried fruit*
1 cup glacé apricots, chopped
¾ cup glacé cherries, chopped
¼ cup glacé ginger, chopped
⅓ cup walnuts or almonds*, roughly chopped
½ cup brandy
Canola oil spray
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs (59g)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 1 orange)
2 cups gluten free plain flour
½ cup gluten free self raising flour
1 ½ teaspoons mixed spice*
½ teaspoon cinnamon*
Blanched almonds to decorate*
1 meter length of wide Christmas ribbon or plastic Christmas decoration

Method

In a large bowl, combine the mixed dried fruit, chopped glace apricots, cherries and ginger. Pour over the brandy and toss through. Cover and stand over night. Add the nuts and toss through.

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Prepare a 20cm round cake tin, sprayed lightly with the oil and lined with non-stick baking paper. Make sure the paper stands 5cm above the edge of the cake tin.

Place the brown sugar, oil, eggs, orange juice and vanilla essence in a medium bowl. Beat until smooth and has turned a light brown. Add to the fruit mix and combine well.

In a separate bowl, sift the flours, mixed spice and cinnamon and stir through to combine. Fold the flour mixture into the fruit mixture, making sure the flour is mixed through well. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, leveling out evenly with the back of a spoon. Tap the pan gently on the bench to remove air bubbles.

Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for 3 hours or until a skewer is inserted into the centre and comes out clean. Remove from the oven, wrap in a clean tea towel and allow the cake to cool.

Decorate the cake with the blanched almonds; place them evenly around the top of the cake, gently pressing into the cake mixture. You can wrap some Christmas ribbon around the cake or place the plastic decoration on top (press the ‘stem’ into the cake).